Joe Kyrillos is getting his message out and new polls back that up!

http://www.politickernj.com/56140/kyrillos-closes-menendez

Councilman Calogera needs to look in the mirror

I just finished reading the article in the March 1, 2012 addition of the Suburban titled “O.B. lays off workers to trim budget deficit” and I felt compelled to comment.  In particular, I need to correct the record based on comments made by Democratic Councilman Kevin Calogera.  Mr. Calogera’s comments in the article are disingenuous, politically motivated and quite frankly totally inaccurate.

Mayor Henry, not two full months in office, was forced to implement these layoffs due to the severe structural budget issues he inherited.  In doing so, he has been open about the Township’s finances and has made every effort to minimize the affect the structural budget would cause.  Mayor Henry sought assistance from the State to delay his presentation of the budget (and was granted a waiver) so he could better analyze all of the inputs of the budget and come up with a plan that balanced the needs of the employees with the needs of the taxpayers.  To that end, the Mayor formed and convened a Finance Committee meeting which included myself, Councilman Richard Greene, Councilman Kevin Calogera, the Business Administrator and the Finance Officer.  That meeting took place on February 16, 2012, a full week before Mr. Calogera alleges he knew of these layoff’s (February 24).   At the meeting which lasted approximately two hours, Mr. Calogera was an active participant and knew full well the financial difficulties facing Old Bridge.  To state that he was made aware of the layoffs on February 24^th is inaccurate.

Mr. Calogera goes on the say that “We (I assume he means the Democrats) were closing the [budget] gap through attrition, but they (I assume he means the Republicans) want to do it as quickly as possible no matter how it affects the employees…”   Mr. Calogera shows a significant naivety or lack of business sense with this statement.  To say that natural attrition (employees leaving the Township payroll on their own) is a solid strategy to balance a budget is ludicrous at best.  The fact of the matter is, Mr. Calogera and the Democrats, who controlled the Township council for the last 14 years and the Mayor’s office for the last 8 years, created this structural deficit.  Additionally, during the Finance meeting on February 16^th, he was also made aware that there was not enough expected attrition to close the budget gap.  If this problem was small enough to solve through attrition, layoffs would clearly not have been implemented.  The fact of the matter is that the Democrats have kicked the proverbial can down the road and have not dealt with the financial issues facing this Township. 

Finally, we have a Mayor who is going to take actions that stabilize the Township’s financial woes so we can start to grow and get this town back on track.

Mr. Calogera needs to simply look in the mirror to see why these layoffs occurred.   These layoffs affected people’s lives and for Councilman Calogera to use this as some sort of political football is completely inappropriate and I think he owes those employees that were laid off an apology.

Brian J. Cahill

Council President – Councilman at Large

Old Bridge Township

Democratic Healthcare Ordinance Repealed!

The Healthcare ordinance that the prior Democratic administration jammed down our throats is no more.  The public spoke loud and clear and we listened!  The Old Bridge Republicans stand for fiscally conservative principles, not politically motivated high jinks.

http://sub.gmnews.com/news/2012-02-09/Front_Page/Hardfought_retirement_ordinance_off_the_books.html

Old Bridge Republicans keep our promises!!

The controversial healthcare ordnance passed by the prior administration and democratically controlled council will be repealed.

http://sub.gmnews.com/news/2012-02-02/Front_Page/OB_council_to_repeal_retirement_ordinance.html

Owen Henry Endorsed by the League of Humane Voters

The Old Bridge Republican Team-2011 is proud to announce that the League of Humane Voters has formally endorsed Owen Henry for Mayor of Old Bridge.

From the Endorsement page:

ENDORSEMENT: Old Bridge Mayoral Race

Candidate for Mayor Owen Henry (R)

In a questionnaire submitted to the League of Humane Voters of New Jersey, Owen Henry, candidate for the position of Old Bridge Township Mayor has stated the following:

• He is supportive of Trap-Neuter-Return for outdoor cat populations
• He would support a Township program and/or ordinance that endorses TNR as it has "worked in other towns and has proven results"
• He does not support feeding bans or Trap and Remove as they do "not solve the problem and are cruel and inhumane"

The current mayor, Patrick Gillespie, has not responded to our questionnaire.

Owen is the proud owner of 4 rescued dogs and is in the process of adopting another. He strongly believes in T-N-R but also believes that the Township can and should do a better job at partnering with reputable adoption agencies in the area in an effort to find loving homes, when possible, for the outdoor cat population.

The Old Bridge Republican Team of Owen Henry, Brian Cahill, Debbie Walker and Jim Anderson are each proud of their own animal family members and wish to thank the LOHV for this wonderful endorsement.